Monday, April 07, 2008

rainy sunday

Brooke blogs coherently about our rainy Sunday morning ride...

Well, here's tribute to the good souls who said to heck with the forecast and joined Kate and I for the Inaugural Sunday Bella Rides. The ride start was at Dunn Bros. Coffee on Lake Street and River Road at 9 a.m. Kate and I were joined by Barb and Bruce for the ride over to the Greenway to pick up others enroute. We met Manda just off of the Chicago/Greenway intersection and then went on to pick up Becca and Rebecca at the dog park meeting spot at Lake Calhoun. Here Barb and Bruce left us to complete some scheduled interval training. Our group headed west on the pre-decided route. We were not blessed with sunny skies and warm weather as was the day before but we were a hardy crew and pedaled on. The route took us to the end of the paved Greenway and then south a bit to connect with the Smetana hill and onto Shady Oak Road. We discovered that our ride time at that point coincided with services at Wooddale Church. We may need to alter the course or time a little in the future to allow those seeking redemption full rights to the road and us an exception for an early exit to heaven.

As we headed back through Edina the first few sprinkles started to fall. Being the optimistic bunch we are, we initially figured it was road spray from those in the front. Unfortunately, Manda and Kate confirmed that they too, were getting dripped on with no one in front of them and alas, the weather forecaster was going to have an accurate forecast come to pass. The sprinkling stayed light until we crested Vernon and crossed Hwy 100. The skies then decided that it was time to rain and rain it did. By the time we reached Lake Harriet, we were all pretty darn wet and ready for the ride to be over. Becca and I left Manda and Kate at 40th and Bryant as they headed towards the Greenway and off their separate ways to continue home.

Although not as pleasant of ending as wished, it was a good ride. Our distance was about 32 miles as planned (if you started at Dunn Bros) and the time approximately 2 hours 20 minutes. I think everyone enjoyed themselves until the rain came in so all-in-all a successful outing. After wiping down my chain and drying my bike, I was able to get out of the wet clothes and into a hot shower. A cup of hot cocoa, a slice of peanut butter toast and I'm ready to think about next Sunday.

Next week, we'll try the Northeast route. Watch for time and start location to be announced. Till then, roll on.......